BONUS TRACKS: New Ma Rainey Box Set, Smithsonian Folkways Blues Collection Reissue, and More Roots Music News

This week was a good one for the blues. A five-CD, 118-track box set of Ma Rainey's work, titled Mother of the Blues, The Complete Paramount Recordings, 1923-1928, will be released on July 24 via Black Swan Records / George H Buck Jazz Foundation. This will the most comprehensive collection of Rainey's music ever released and will include songs not previously reissued, never-before-published photos, and track-by-track liner notes in a more-than 100-page book.

As Dom Flemons said in a press release, "The current collection before you is by far the most superior transfer of Ma Rainey’s to ever be released on disc."

Rainey was a pioneer in American music in the early-mid 20th century, impacting jazz, blues, and even hip-hop over the following century. She has been recognized by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and and Blues Hall of Fame, and was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.

For more on Ma Rainey, check out the Winter 2021 "Good News" issue of No Depression, with a story about a nonprofit inspired by her work, as well as the Summer 2021 "Voices" issue about Maxayn Lewis' portrayal of her in the 2020 film Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Print issues are still available here and you can explore all of ND's archives by subscribing here.

Another collection of foundational blues music, Classic Blues from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, is due out June 12. Originally released in 2003 as part of the Smithsonian Folkways Classic CD series, the 26-song compilation will be reissued for the first time on vinyl. The double-LP release features artists including Son House, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Elizabeth Cotten, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, among other foundational blues figures across the Delta, Southwest, Piedmont, and urban north. Additionally, musician and researcher Dr. Barry Lee Pearson produced the album, which includes his original liner notes from 2003.

For a contemporary take on blues, dive in to a feature from the Spring 2024 issue of No Depression titled, "Whose Blues: As Blues Music Modernizes, So Do the Voices of Those Making It." Once again, print issues are still available here and you can explore all of ND's archives by subscribing here.

In other reissue news, The Del McCoury Band honors the 25th anniversary of Del and the Boys with an expanded re-release on CD and streaming platforms on July 10 via McCoury Music. The 25th anniversary edition will include three previously unreleased recordings and new mixes by producer, engineer, and member of Sam Bush's band, Stephen Mougin.

Folk-protest troubadour Jesse Welles announced a new album titled Masks Off, due out June 12. The talking blues title track is available now.

Brandi Carlile shared a new song and new partnership with the National Park Foundation today: one dollar from each ticket sold at next weekend’s Echoes Through the Canyon event at The Gorge Amphitheatre will be donated to the nonfprofit. Check out videos for the track, "Life On The Run," and a PSA for the collaboration below. And for more information and to donate to the National Park Foundation, visit NationalParks.org/Brandi.

Finally, in news counteracting what the National Park Foundation stands for, Spotify and Universal Music Group announced a collaboration that would let subscribers create AI remixes of music on the streaming platform. Read more at The Guardian.

WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO

Hiss Golden Messenger - I'm People (ND review)
Gage Saylor & The Creekside Boys - "Hymnal”

Westside Cowboy - "Kick Stones (The Boys)"

NEW RELEASES - 5/22/26

Marisa Anderson - The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music
Jacob Augustine - I Love You Forever
Ben Chapman - Feet On Fire
Thomas Csorba - Tender Country
The Deslondes - Don’t Let It Die: Vol. 1
Alena Diane - Who's Keeping Time?
Little Barrier - Gravity Freeze
Magic Tuber Stringband - Heavy Water
Nora Kelly Band - So Wrong For So Long
Steep Canyon Rangers - Next Act

COMING SOON - 5/29/26

Lynn Blakey - Retrospective
Amani Burnham - Roots & Wings
DERVISH - The Great Irish Songbook Vol. 2: Poets & Storytellers
Béla Fleck and Renée Fleming - The Fiddle and the Drum
Nathan Evans Fox - Heirloom
Robin Ganz - Hypnos
Lone Piñon - Hot Carne Seca
Paul McCartney - The Boys of Dungeon Lane
Willie Nelson - Dream Chaser
Joey Quiñones - Inna Soul Steady Situation
David Serby - Broken Heart in a Honky Tonk
JP Soars - Gypsy Blue Revue
SUSTO - Susto Stringband (Volume 2)
Kurt Vile - Philadelphia's been good to me
Joshua Ray Walker - Ain't Dead Yet
Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan - Where the Willow and Dogwood Grow